Pubic lice are small lice that live on pubic hair of men and women. Due to its appearance they are known as crabs. Primarily they live on the genital area and sometimes it can also infect armpit hair and eyebrows. Often pubic lice are seen on teenagers and also on adults. These lice can be easily destroyed by single dose of prescription medication.
Appearance :
Pubic lice live in three forms namely egg (nit), nymph and adult. Eggs are oval in shape and are found attached to the genital hair firmly. They cannot be detected by naked eye. It takes one week or even more for the eggs to convert into the next stage. Nymph is the hatched egg of the louse. It feeds on the blood of the host and it takes about 2-3 weeks to transform into adult.
An adult pubic louse looks very much like a crab having six legs with two large front legs. They are grayish white or yellow in color. Females are generally bigger than male louse. In case if the insect falls from a person it will automatically die in a day or two without having food (blood). Pubic lice live mostly on the genital (pubic) hair of humans but sometimes they are also present in armpits and hairs of legs or even eyebrows. In case if it enters eye cavity, it can cause blepharitis.
Symptoms :
Pubic lice cause intense itching on the genitals. It should not be misunderstood with jock itch. Egg lice or nymph can be seen visibly on the genitals which feed on blood. There can be sores caused by biting of louse on the genitals.
Causes :
The major cause for getting pubic lice is by sexual intercourse. In medical terms pubic lice are called phthirus pubis. The lice spreads from infected person to his/her partner through sexual activity primarily. In rare cases it can spread when you share clothing, bath towels or bed linens with infected person. The lice cannot live for more than a day without sucking blood and hence they will die once it withers off from the human body. Hence pubic lice will not spread when you share toilet with others.